Soccer is a team sport. Soccer is an individual sport. Soccer is kicking, shooting, passing, throwing, scoring, dribbling, trapping, defending, attacking. The feeling you get because the fresh grass is under your cleats is soccer. The feeling you get when it's just you and the ball dribbling and cutting throughout the field is soccer. The feeling you get when you make one good pass that sets someone up to score is soccer. When you score because of a good pass it's soccer. The victories and losses you share as a team and as an individual is indescribable and amazing. The winning or losing of your little battles could cost you the game. Somewhere inside you find that little spark of confidence that tells you, you can do anything you want. When you get on the field that spark is suddenly released and you don't care about anything else besides your team, how you play, and the victory that could be yours. There is so much more to soccer than meets the eye and I wish everyone could experience the feelings inside when playing this sport.

Devious Tom


In the short story of “The Glorious Whitewasher” Samuel Clemens, otherwise known as Mark Twain, creates a mischievous main character named Tom. Tom’s standing with his paintbrush and whitewash. He knows Aunt Polly’s carefully watching him, but he can’t bare standing in the hot weather and painting instead of hanging out with his friends. Tom bribes everyone around him while he only thinks about himself.
Tom is a troublemaker and he is also very devious. It starts out as a regular sunny day, the first point in the mode of comedy. Aunt Polly needs Tom to paint the fence, so Tom says he will do it. But, knowing Tom, he will find his way out. The second point to the mode of comedy is conflict- when Tom doesn’t want to whitewash the fence.
Since Tom doesn’t want to paint the fence, he bribes his friends into doing it for him. Marvels are used as a symbol in this story. They symbolize bribery, because Tom gives the big marvels to his friend in order to get him to paint the fence. Before you know it, Tom ends up with all the marvels, because people start paying him to paint the fence. All of the toys he ended up with were like all the money in the world to Tom.
While Tom’s friends pay him to paint the fence, he has nothing to do except for play with all of the gifts he received. It all returns to normal when Tom runs out of whitewash and his friends can’t paint anymore- the last point in the mode of comedy. You can see that in society today a lot of people use others for their own good. Just think, wouldn’t you want to earn everything you have by working for it and knowing that you did everything you could to get it, instead of having it handed to you?

Wish Wisely


In the story "The Third Wish" by Joan Aiken, a wonderful man named Mr. Peters is created. In the forest he stands by the river, visiting Leita. The soft fur on her feathers soothes him, and he wonders what it would be like if she was never with him even in spirit. Mr. Peters learns that if you’re granted three wishes, use them wisely.
First, Mr. Peters drives his car to the forest. He thinks it’s so beautiful! This is normal everyday life, and is the first point to the mode of romance. When he gets to the forest, a swan is tangled in thorns and branches. It just happens that the swan is the King of the Forest. When Mr. Peters saves the swan, he asks for three wishes in return. The King grants him the wishes but reminds him to wish wisely. Each wish is symbolized by a leaf. Therefore, making the three leaves major symbols in this story.

Mr. Peters knows the leaves are sacred, so he knows he has to wish wisely. He uses his first wish to ask for a wife as beautiful as the forest. Surely, he’s granted the wish but he soon learns that his wife Leita is also a swan. Leita has a sister who’s a swan too and misses Leita misses her so much! Joan Aiken writes “She was weeping, and as he came nearer he saw that tears were rolling too, from the swan’s eyes”. As you can see, Leita was not happy in human form. A mild conflict occurs, the second point in the mode of romance.

Once Mr. Peters finds Leita not happy, his second wish is used to change Leita back to a swan, because he knows she is happier that way. This is the resolution which is the next point in the mode of romance. Joan Aiken’s style of writing is very unique. She uses modern ideas with contemporary ideas. She also incorporates different symbols throughout the story nicely. A very important symbol in this story is the gold chain Mr. Peters gave to Leita for marriage. When she turned back to a swan, she still had it dangling from her neck. This symbolizes the power of love.
Love was symbolized throughout the story, and a new beginning occurs. Mr. Peters dies with a smile on his face and he never used his third wish. In society today, we have to learn to be happy with everything we have, and to always wish wisely. Even though Mr. Peters wishes weren’t granted to better him, in a way he learned something about life and that is always important. Just think, what would you have wished for if you were granted three wishes?

Solution to the Impossible

“I will get you anything your heart desires. Is there anything your heart desires?”
“Yes” said the Princess. “I want the moon. If I can have the moon, I will be well again.”
“Okay, you can have the moon”
This conversation took place in Princess Lenore’s bedroom. She’s sick and needs something to cure it. The king is willing to get her anything she wants, with the help of others. Princess Lenore counts on her father to get her the moon.
While Princess Lenore counts on her father to get her the moon, the king needs advice and help. The king calls in the Lord High Chamberlain, the Royal Wizard, and the Royal Mathematician. They come up with ideas to get the moon but none work, a mild conflict, which is the first point in the mode of romance.
Finally, the king speaks with the Court Jester. The Court Jester comes up with a way to give Princess Lenore the moon. The Court Jester finds out how big, far away, and what the moon is made of, according to Princess Lenore. Once he finds this out, the Court Jester rushes to the Royal Goldsmith. The Royal Goldsmith creates a beautiful necklace with a gold ball on it. This was “the moon” and Princess Lenore loved it! The conflict was overcome which is the second point to the mode of romance.
Princess Lenore loved her necklace and started to feel cured again. But, the king realizes “We must keep the Princess Lenore from seeing the moon when it shines in the sky tonight.” Once again the king calls in the Royals but none of them come up with any solutions. The Court Jester is their only hope. When the Princess and the Court Jester are talking the moon starts to shine. The Court Jester asks “How can the moon be shining in the sky, when it’s hanging from your neck?” Princess Lenore answers that a new moon took its place. This made everyone smile.
So, the Princess is cured, and there are no more problems. This is the last point in the mode of romance. This is a new beginning. So you can see that in this world today, it’s not always impossible to have the impossible.

Perfect Nanny

In the movie Mary Poppins, Bill Walsh creates a fantasy world full of magic! Mary Poppins is a nanny with many tricks up her sleeve. Mary Poppins is helpful to the children because she always spends time with them. The children enjoy Mary Poppins so much!
Mary Poppins is a delight to the children, she takes them to imaginary places you’ve never been! These worlds are filled with everything the children like! While on the outings a friend of Mary’s, Bert, tags along. The children have never had more fun in their lives. That all changes when they are with their parents. Their parents never take time to do something with them. That must have a big impact on the children’s lives.
Jane and Michael’s parents never spend enough time with them, but Mary helps in lots of different ways. One day before Mary, Bert, Michael, and Jane go to another outing, the children have to clean their rooms. In order for it to go quicker, Mary Poppins simply snaps her fingers while pointing at an object and it is put back in place. This describes some of the magic used in the movie. There is also lots of singing in this delightful movie. Catchy songs such as “A Spoon Full of Sugar” and “Chim Chim Cheree” have you dancing in your seat. Singing is joyful for everyone in the town. They use it to express their feelings.
Magic and singing play a big role in this movie, the children’s dad is always cranky. He has never taken the children pretty much anywhere! Mary Poppins and the father were talking, and Poppins twisted things he said and made it seem like he offered to take the kids to the bank. So he did take the kids to the bank and on the way there the children see an elderly woman they once dreamt about, feeding the birds. She was a poor but nice lady, and the children wanted to feed the birds too! But of course, Mr. Banks wouldn’t let them. When they arrived at the bank Jane and Michael started a riot and then everyone thought the bank was scamming them. It caused the bank to close down for the rest of the day. It also resulted that the father got fired from his job at the bank.
During the loss of the father’s job, he finally realized he needs to have fun in life. So he spent more time with his kids. You can see that in society today, how much time you spend with your kids determines your children’s lives. Mary Poppins was a miracle that happened to come along. That doesn’t always happen so we need to learn to make the most of ourselves and our family!

Adapting


In the story The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez, Panchito lives in a migrant family with Roberto (brother), Papa, and Mama. Panchito is working hard in the crop filled field. As soon as he catches a break, there is more to do. He can’t handle the warm, sunny climate and his aching muscles anymore. He can’t wait for school to start, but just when he gets excited for it it is snatched away from him. Moving from place to place would be very difficult because you have to adapt to different living styles.
Moving different places can be difficult in many ways. Panchito has lived in a lot of different homes. Jiménez writes, “The garage was worn out by the years. It had no windows. The walls, eaten by termites, strained to support the roof full of holes. The dirt floor populated by earthworms, looked like a gray road map.” As you can see it is a filthy place to live. Papa, Panchito, and Roberto work in the fields. When the school bus goes by, Panchito and Roberto have to hide so they won’t get in trouble or picked on for not going to school. It would be hard living in a migrant family.
It would be hard living in a migrant family. But when it’s finally time for Panchito to go to school, it is such a happy time for him. On the other hand though, Roberto has to keep working. Panchito feels guilty but decides to make the best of it. Francisco Jiménez writes, “Mr. Lema walked up to me and handed me an English book, and asked me to read. When I heard this I felt the blood rush to my head; I felt dizzy.” Panchito cannot speak English so he ended up not reading. During Panchito’s lunches, Mr. Lema volunteered to help Panchito with his English. Soon, Panchito discovers a new interest; a trumpet.
Panchito discovers a new interest which is the trumpet. Mr. Lema tries to teach Panchito to play it, but as soon as he starts to like it, he has to move. In this story you can realize that someone’s life is harder than yours. You can realize that we all have it pretty good. Panchito would most likely want our life more than he wants his own.
Panchito has a difficult life and education, work, and making friends is hard for him. So we can see that in society today, people have fewer things than we do. It makes us grateful and appreciative of everything we have. It reminds us to thank and help others. What can you do to help a new student at your school?

The Pearl Essay

Good or Evil?

In the novel The Pearl, John Steinbeck creates a poor island family: Kino, Juana, and Coyotito. In the canoe, over the deep, blue, ocean stands Kino and Juana. Kino, ready to dive and Juana, hoping for that magnificent pearl. Kino finds a great pearl but instead of bringing wealth and good it brings evil. The pearl brought a rude awakening about greed, life, and love to Kino and his family.

Kino finds a magnificent pearl but instead of bringing good it brings evil. When Coyotito get stung by a scorpion, Kino and Juana cannot afford the doctor's help. But once Kino finds the pearl, and the doctor finds out, he comes to them. It seems the doctor is very greedy and could be a nicer human being. Instead of the doctor taking all of his money, he could give some of it to people who need it to survive. Though Coyotito slowly gets better, Kino and Juana do not. They have people trying to steal the pearl and new people trying to be their friends just because they have a pearl. Kino and Juana are going through a lot of struggle.

This struggle is also seen in their relationship;

Love also comes in the way between Kino and Juana. John Steinbeck writes, " He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders and he kicked her in the side." As you can see Kino and Juana got into an argument and rage got the best of Kino. The pearl was hurting everyone in the family. Kino got very greedy, Juana had more responsibility for everyone around her, and Coyotito was close to having his life taken away from him.

The pearl was hurting everyone in the family, so Kino had to go get it cashed for money. Steinbeck writes, " Now the dealer's hand had become a personality. The hand tossed the great pearl back in the tray, the forefinger poked and insulted it, and on the dealer's face there came a sad and contemptuous smile." This description of the dealer is Steinbeck's way of telling the reader that Kino is going to be taken advantage of. The pearl did not get the value it should have and Kino did not accept it. But once he found out that hunters were tracking him down because he killed a man, he had to go into hiding. He decided to go into the mountains with Juana and Coyotito, but soon tragedy would happen.

So we can see that the pearl could have helped Kino and Juana in many ways. But instead, the pearl brought evil. It is just like society today. You have a ton of luck to find something and if you take opportunities for granted and get greedy over them, they will be taken away from you. It is just how the world works. Just think, would you keep an evil thing and put your family in danger if it was just for money and popularity?